The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports innovative, long-term collaborative projects in five core program areas: higher education and scholarship, scholarly communications and information technology, art history and conversation, performing arts, and conversation and the environment. Mellon’s grant-making philosophy is to build, strengthen, and sustain institutions and their core capacities, by investing sufficient funds for an extended period to accomplish the purpose at hand and achieve meaningful results. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Scholarly Communications and Information Technology provided the financial support to develop and build The Digital Archaeological Archive of Chesapeake Slavery through in an initial 4-year grant (2000-2004). In 2004, DAACS received a three-year grant (2005-2007) that provided for the addition of 22 new sites from the Chesapeake, the Carolinas, and the Caribbean. In 2013, The Mellon Foundation’s Scholarly Communications and Information Technology Program provided the financial support to create and build the DAACS Research Consortium.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation owns and maintains Monticello including the core of Jefferson’s 2500-acre plantation. Monticello is a National Historic Landmark and the only house in the United States designated an UNESCO World Heritage site.

As a private, nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation, the Foundation receives no ongoing federal, state, or local funding in support of its dual mission of preservation and education. Today, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation remains committed to a twofold mission:

Preservation – to conserve, protect, and maintain Monticello in a manner which leaves it enhanced and unimpaired for future generations.

Education – to research, interpret, and present Thomas Jefferson and his world to the widest possible audiences, including scholars and the general public.

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation is the founding sponsor and home of The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery. DAACS was conceived, built, and is maintained by the Monticello Department of Archaeology, a division of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. Each year the NEH designates a portion of its grants as “We the People” projects — a special recognition by the NEH for model projects that advance the study, teaching, and understanding of American history and culture. NEH has financially supported The Digital Archaeological Archive of Comparative Slavery through numerous grant awards, including a NEH Challenge Grant (2001), a Transatlantic Digital Collaboration Grant (2008), and several Humanities Collections and Reference Resource Grants (2007, 2009, 2014). In 2003, NEH designated DAACS part of its We The People Initiative, which is designed to “explore significant events and themes in our nation’s history and culture and that advance knowledge of the principles that define America.”

The Reed Foundation, founded in 1945 by American industrialist, philanthropist, and patron of the arts Samuel Rubin (1901-1978), supports programs which advance the general welfare of mankind, including charitable, scientific, literary and educational activities, including the fine and performing arts, the social sciences, civil rights, museums, archives, libraries and other cultural institutions, primarily in the New York region.

Individual Contributors

Five individuals contributed generous gifts to the DAACS Endowment. We are grateful to Mr. John Cooke, Mrs. Linda K. Ford, Mr. John A. Griffin, Ms. Sonja Hoel, and Mr. Thomas A. Saunders III for their support.